The Mayan Calendar signals not so much an ending, as many have misinterpreted, but a new beginning in 2012. The Mayan Calendar, besides merely dividing up and organizing time like any calendar, also measured the nature of time. Time periods were represented by architypal glyphs that described the nature of events likely to occur during that time cycle. According to the Mayan Calendar, the current time cycle has certain characteristics, as will future time cycles. Perhaps those who have been paying attention to events around the world have observed the nature of the transition between time cycles. The new beginning already under way in 2011 is characterized by upheaval of various industries brought on by the internet and transparency, development of green technologies, communications technologies and political regime changes.

The Mayans had two calendars. One for measuring in short time intervals such as 26 days, 20 days and 13 days. The 13 day cycle is the basis of this calendar. The Mayan’s second calendar measured longer time spans like 360 days, 7,200 days and

144,000 days. This second calendar the Mayans called their “Long Count.” In 2012 the Mayan Calendar reaches the end of the current Long Count, which began in 3114 BCE, and begins a new Long Count. The year 2012, marks a transition from one world age to another. The smallest unit of time in the Mayan Calendar was 13 days. The next largest measurement was 20 days. The shorter calendar divided the year into 13 months of 20 days. In honor of the Mayan Calendars, the passing away of the old order and the transition to a new way of life on Earth, I have selected the best 13

photographs from 2011. Keeping time as the Mayans did, in 13s rather than 12s, as with the Gregorian Calendar, enhances creativity, connection with nature, grounding and expansion of thought to more awareness of the universe and the unity of all things. Whereas the number 12, used in the Gregorian Calendar and our daily time keeping system of clocks, encourages logic, systematization and conformity to the established order.

Clocks and factories developed in Europe at the same time in history. Factory

management encouraged town citizens to follow a system of time schedule regimentation. Large clocks in town centers were installed to regulate workers in large numbers. The daily schedule regulated by clocks with time measured in units of 12, brought higher productivity and profitability to the factories, while instilling a certain order in worker’s lives and dependence on the factory system. Today in this time of transition, the human race is reinventing time and the system and thereby changing our lifestyle from

California. I chose it as a tribute to my father, pioneer conservation photographer Philip Hyde, whose photographs originally helped create Point Reyes National Seashore. Point Reyes, on the coast of Marin County just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, is not an easy place to photograph because it is a low moor country of rolling grassland hills. The skies are often drab and the scenery rather subtle in its beauty. I have fond memories of backpacking with my parents on Drake’s Beach, renting bicycles in Olema and riding along the tree lined sleepy roads of

the Inverness Ridge area. Despite the challenges, Dad made some timeless photographs around Point Reyes, including one “quintessential Philip Hyde” that he titled simply, “Drake’s Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore.” Many masters of the West Coast tradition photographed Point Reyes including Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Edward Weston, Eadweard Muybridge and others.

During our travel adventure in Point Reyes, I was fortunate to arrive with my companions at Drake’s Beach while the low sun angle brought on the evening magic hour. I photographed until Sundown. Before we visited Drake’s Beach, my party and I had walked out to the top of the stairway down to the Lighthouse, but the gate at the top of the stairway was already closed and locked for the evening. On the way out to the Lighthouse, I made the tenth photograph in this blog post, “Sand Fence Near Point Reyes Light House.” After some group photos, rock climbing and other fun around the Point Reyes Lighthouse, we drove down to Drakes Beach where I made the first photograph.

The second landscape photograph of the Sun hitting just the very top of Mt. Hough in the Northern Sierra Nevada did not result from careful planning, studying a photographer’s ephemeris or long

waiting for the right moment. I was driving home from Greenville one day and looked up and there it was. (View this photograph large: “Last Light On Mt. Hough, Arlington Ridge.”) Photographs like this are gifts from Nature, God or whatever you believe in or call it. The photograph comes through me and I merely receive it. I am the creator, yet not the creator.

“Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves” surprised me. That day at Indian Falls I thought I had made a number of excellent photographs, but none of them turned out to be all that great when I opened them in Photoshop. However, “Granite, Pool, Maple Leaves” grew on me and people I showed it to liked it. (View large:

Rolling through Central Valley towns on California State Highway 113 on my way to Occupy UC Davis, I noticed these strangely shaped and colored shadows on this odd industrial farm building. I stopped and made, “Grain Processing Plant At Night, Great Central Valley.”

Once I arrived at UC Davis that evening about 10:00 pm, I found the main Quad and made photographs there and in front of the Financial Aid building until around 2:00 am, then got up later that morning at 7:00 and photographed most of the day. I share more about the experience of photographing Occupy UC Davis in my blog post, “Occupy Wall Street At UC Davis.” Both of the Occupy UC Davis photographs that made it into the top 13 group here, I made the first night I arrived within a few minutes of each other. Number 13 at the end of this blog post, “Tents, Fountain, Dutton Hall Financial Aid, Occupy UC Davis” was one of the last few I made at the Financial Aid Building before I wandered back out to the Main Quad. On my way out to the Main Quad a group of campus Policemen pulled up in two police cars and asked me if I was photographing for my own purposes or for the media. I said that I was a blogger but I didn’t know yet how the photographs were going to turn out. I made “Tent Camp, Night Mist, Occupy UC Davis” shortly after.

Last week, after playing ice hockey and making a series of action photos at a local pond ice hockey game, I noticed these thistle heads next to the pond backlit by the sun. The beauty of the golden illumination around the edges of each thistle head caught my eye, but I made quick exposures not thinking much of note would result. The moment I reviewed this photograph after

The ‘nude in nature’ photograph of a friend is a tribute to Edward Weston and Kim Weston, who showed me excellent hospitality last year when I visited Edward Weston’s home where Kim Weston now lives on Wildcat Hill in Carmel Highlands, California. Kim Weston leads photo workshops on the spot where Edward Weston lived. Kim Weston is also known for his nudes in nature, as of course was his grandfather.

My mother, Ardis King Hyde, descended from four generations of farmers in California’s Great Central Valley. She excelled in the art of gardening and farming, as did all of her three brothers. She studied and planted ornamental shrubs and trees, flowers and vegetables. She planted a number of Japanese Maples that put on a brilliant display every Fall color season without fail, even on a lesser Fall color year like this one, where most of the other trees leaves turned quickly from green to brown in a matter of less than

a week without stopping at yellow, orange or red in between. I have made many photographs of Mom’s Japanese Maples, especially in the Fall the last several years. This year’s photograph, “Japanese Maple In Upper Garden Against Forest And Sky” in my opinion is the best.

Unlike this winter, which so far has proved to be mainly dry and cold, last winter proved heavier than many with snow after snow hitting the Northern Sierra Nevada. During the many weeks when not much else could be accomplished outdoors, I went out photographing often. “Arlington Ridge, Oak Knoll, Indian Valley” was one of the gift fruits of these labors of love. Thank you for sharing in this love. To view more of my photographs see the blog post, “David Leland Hyde Archival Prints Prelaunch” or my portfolio on the Philip Hyde website.

The peaceful Occupy Wall Street uprising of 99 percent of the people against the richest ruling class one percent, started in New York in September and spread around the world. Out of all Occupy Wall Street protests from Philadelphia to San Francisco to many “small town, USA” main streets, Occupy UC Davis has drawn the most publicity and discussion.

Why? Simple answer: Police brutality. As you may have seen on major network news, YouTube or any number of blogs around the internet, University of California, Davis Campus Police officer John Pike pepper sprayed his way into history, became a Photoshop Meme and is now known as “Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop.” Students did not take it sitting down for long. They responded powerfully to the excessive force applied against them. In one video made at an Occupy UC Davis demonstration, one member led the crowd in a chant. He shouted, “Is this what a police state looks like?” And the crowd roared, “This is what a police state looks like.”

The Chief of UC Davis Campus Police, Annette Spicuzza, later explained to the Sacramento Bee that John Pike and another police officer pepper sprayed the students seated on the ground, arms linked with no way to protect their faces because, “There was no way out of that circle. They were cutting the officers off from their support. It’s a very volatile situation.” However, the website, Know Your Meme, said over a dozen videos from different angles were uploaded to YouTube and showed that the UC Davis police were walking freely around the area. Soon after Chief Spicuzza placed the two officers on leave. University of California President Mark Yudof subsequently put Chief Spicuzza on leave as well. Meanwhile UC Davis dropped charges against the non-violent student demonstrators.

Occupy UC Davis participants demand UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi resign largely because she defended the Police actions to begin with, but as dissent increased, she realigned with Occupy UC Davis student and faculty protestors. Following the pepper spray incident she sent a letter to University officials: “The group was informed in writing… that if they did not dismantle the encampment, it would have to be removed… However a number of protestors refused our warning, offering us no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal.” Later after the uprising reached a crescendo, she told a crowd of over 1,000 students at a town hall that she, “Explicitly directed the chief of police that violence should be avoided at all costs.”

Traveling To Photograph ‘Occupy UC Davis’ And What I Discovered

Believing this to be a potentially significant defining moment in history, and living within 180 miles of Davis, last week I packed up my father pioneer landscape photographer Philip Hyde’s trusty 1984 Ford Econoline traveling Van and headed for UC Davis to document with photography what I could. I missed a major rally scheduled for 9:00 am Monday, November 28, 2011, but finally finished enough work to get away and arrived on the UC Davis campus that evening. I found the Quad by 10:00 pm, just in time to photograph several TV crews from various stations filming in front of UC Davis’ Dutton Hall Financial Aid. Donations from around the world through Amazon.com had just paid for 25 new tents to bring the total in the Quad up to 75 and add more than a dozen to the inside lobby and main entry courtyard of the financial aid building. That day financial aid closed down early and remained closed the following day except for check disbursement.

I photographed Dutton Hall and then headed out to the Quad proper. A good number of students were still awake. I met Devin, Michelle, Anne and a number of others. Considering it was the last week of school before finals week, the Occupy UC Davis encampment had plenty of supporters and participants. I talked a bit and photographed until around 1:30 am, when the cold fog got the best of my fingers and toes. The nearby parking structure allowed free parking from 10:00 pm until 7:00 am. Besides the hundreds of bicycles in the Quad, there were still many vehicles in the parking structure despite postings of a regular security patrol. I decided to do my part in violating the campus policy of no camping and promptly curled up in my ultra comfortable bed in my warm van. I was not disturbed. Apparently UC Davis Police were preoccupied. Earlier in front of Dutton Hall, I witnessed several Campus Police cars drive up and a large group of police officers approach to talk to the student leaders present. At that point, both sides were going out of their way to be cordial to each other, but the police were making their presence known.

The morning fog brought a damper, lower cold. I put on my gloves and another jacket, fed the parking meter and walked back out to the Quad for more photographs. The student protesters on hand recommended I attend the teach-ins in the afternoon. Occupy UC Davis protesters had added quite a few signs and banners to the front of Dutton Hall. Besides the small signs everywhere that said, “No Tuition Hikes,” there was a huge poster of the list of the three main student demands posted near the doors, a gigantic sign that explained financial aid was closed and why from the protesters viewpoint, and a big banner calling for a general strike at UC Davis. The RNs and many teachers were already on strike.

Teach-Ins, Power, Organizing And Goals

Returning to my van I ate lunch, caught up on phone calls and drove off in search of a coffee shop to get online. I finished my internet business just in time to head back to UC Davis for the fog clearing and the Teach-Ins. The Teach-Ins scheduled an hour apart in the geodesic dome for November 29 by UC Davis professors or associate professors included Ari Kelman speaking about “Radicalism in the 1910s,” Victoria Langland, “Student Activism In Brazil, 1960,” Bob Ostertag, “Power and Approaches to Organizing,” and Larry Bogad, “Tactical Performance, Radical Spectacles.” Because it was just a little after 3:00 pm when I arrived at the Occupy UC Davis Information Booth, Professor Bob Ostertag had just begun leading his mix of discussion and lecture.

I made some photographs of the gathered group, gradually listening more closely to the discussion and Dr. Bob Ostertag’s captivating approach. As described at the heading of his recent article about Occupy UC Davis for the Huffington Post, Professor Bob Ostertag is a composer, historian, journalist, and Professor of Technocultural Studies, Film and Music at UC Davis. The students were highly focused, serious, and determined but they were for the most part without strong leadership and a well defined, unified direction. Many of them wanted to nominate leaders but others were also hesitant to do so. At the same time, they were concerned that the movement they had started continue and not fizzle out.

Professor Bob Ostertag witnessed some activism in South America and had other relevant experience leading groups. He defined the difference between organizing and mobilizing in non-violent movements. He pointed out that Police Officer John Pike pepper sprayed a line of seated students and suddenly 3,000 people turned out and mobilized, but at that time had yet to truly organize. The other part of the discourse I listened in on concerned setting goals. In my observation anger and outrage at the Police brutality were the primary motivators, as I easily understand, but Professor Ostertag helped to spark debate among the students about what their ultimate goals for the movement were. Occupy UC Davis’ immediate demands are for Chancellor Linda Katehi to resign, Police off campus with an alternative safety force and a freeze on tuition fee increases. In addition many other ideas were bandied around including the creation of feedback mechanisms in the University of California system allowing more student input to decisions and the reversal of the trend toward privatization of public education.

What Is At Stake?

Yes, there were about 200 people in the quad. It is a piece of grass that was placed by the designers of the campus to be an open, central meeting place for the university community. But somehow, 200 students in the quad has become a problem. A huge problem. A problem so big that, well, yeah it was too bad those kids got pepper sprayed, but hey, there were 200 people in the quad.

Like the chancellor, Chief Spicuzza justified the assault by saying that the protest was “not safe for multiple reasons,” none of which she specified.

How is it that non-violent student protest has suddenly become “unsafe” in the United States?

Good question, how is it indeed…?

Is it possible that certain factions have helped us learn to give up our rights? Is the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights now a sham, merely an outdated philosophical façade? Fox news anchor Bill O’Reilly has the answer: “I don’t think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police. Particularly at a place like UC Davis, which is a fairly liberal campus.” Wait a minute, if we still have a government of the people, by the people and for the people, then the Police work for us. When did we give up the right to direct the way they respond, especially to peaceful protests?